About

Sagastad is going to be a combined science- and experience center, which will be built by the fjord in the center of Nordfjordeid.

A central part of the exhibition in Sagastad is the Myklebust ship, the largest Viking ship that have been found remaining parts of.
The ship will be built to full scale, approximately 30 meters long and 6.5 meters wide. The ship shall be able to sail in the fjord, but most of the year it will be exhibited in Sagastad and be one of the main attractions.

There will be several viewings during the construction period, where the public can access the construction of the ship and follow the progress.

The Myklebust ship was excavated from “Rundehågjen” on the Myklebust farm in Nordfjordeid in 1874, several years before Gokstad (1880) and Oseberg (1904). The Myklebust ship differs from the Oseberg and Gokstad ships because the grave was cremated. The ship burning custom was typical for the west Norwegian coast in the 6th and 7th century. The Myklebust grave is both the last and the largest cremation grave we know from the Viking Age.

The layer of coal in the grave can tell us something about the dimensions of the ship. The mound has a diameter of 100 feet and is 13 feet tall, there was also a wide moat all around the mound which was refilled in the 1800ds.

There is reason to believe that King Augbjørn of the Fjords is the man who was buried in the Myklebust grave. He was mentioned in the sagas, and died in the battle of Solskjel in the year of 876. This correlates well with the dating of the grave to the last half of the 800ds.
Experienced boat builders from Bjørkedalen in Volda municipality started the construction of the new ship in the fall of 2016, they are building it the way we believe the original could have looked. The construction is being conducted in a hall by the fjord in Nordfjordeid – just beside the location for the Sagastad center, which will be ready for visitors in 2019, and just over 300 yards from the burial mound. The hall will have regular visiting hours during the build, so it is possible for visitors to watch the ship as it grows.

The Myklebust ship will be launched onto the fjord in 2019, and we will then be the first since King Audbjørn and his crew to sail on the fjord in Norway’s most glorious Viking ship.